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Coronavirus now infects over 1,000 in Florida as state puts field hospitals in Broward, Miami-Dade

Coronavirus cases in Florida spiked to 1,007 statewide Sunday evening — and one more person has died, according to the latest numbers. That comes as the state announced field hospitals will open in South Florida's Broward and Miami-Dade counties.

The metropolitan areas account for about half of the state's positive cases when combined with Palm Beach County, where a COVID-19 patient died — an 88-year-old man, according to a Sunday morning update from the Florida Department of Health.

A total of 937 Florida residents and 70 non-Florida residents have been infected, the DOH reports. More than 11,000 people in Florida now have been tested for the novel coronavirus, with 9,330 coming back negative.

FYI: To provide our community with important public safety information, the Tallahassee Democrat is making stories related to the coronavirus free to read. To support important local journalism like this, please consider becoming a digital subscriber.

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With her 8-month-old son Wesley nearby, Barbara Markowsky, events manager for Finnegan's Wake and Fifth and Thomas bars in Midtown, packs up food that was originally made for their 15th annual St. Patricks Day party to give to employees who are now left without a job after it was decided Monday to close the two bars for the foreseeable future, laying off around 27 workers. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

With her 8-month-old son Wesley nearby, Barbara Markowsky, events manager for Finnegan's Wake and Fifth and Thomas bars in Midtown, packs up food that was originally made for their 15th annual St. Patricks Day party to give to employees who are now left without a job after it was decided Monday to close the two bars for the foreseeable future, laying off around 27 workers. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

Barbara Markowsky, events manager for Finnegan's Wake and Fifth and Thomas bars in Midtown, packs up food that was originally made for their 15th annual St. Patricks Day party to give to employees who are now left without a job after it was decided Monday to close the two bars for the foreseeable future. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

Barbara Markowsky looks at her 8-month-old son, Wesley, in the kitchen of Fifth and Thomas, where Markowsky is the events manager. The owners of the bar decided Monday to close for the foreseeable future because of coronavirus concerns, canceling their 15th annual St. Patrick's Day party and laying off around 27 people. Markowsky's partner and Wesley's father, John Markowsky, who is a manager at Tin Lizzy's Cantina in CollegeTown, is also now without a job as that establishment is "temporarily closed." Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

The owners of Finnegan's Wake and Fifth and Thomas bars in Midtown made the decision Monday to shut down for the foreseeable future, canceling one of their biggest events of the year, an annual St. Patrick's Day party, and laying off around 27 employees. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

The owners of Finnegan's Wake and Fifth and Thomas bars in Midtown made the decision Monday to shut down for the foreseeable future, canceling one of their biggest events of the year, an annual St. Patrick's Day party, and laying off around 27 employees. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

Coosh's Bayou Rouge in CollegeTown had no sit-down customers until after 1 p.m. Tuesday, March 17, 2020. A few customers ordered food for take-out and two customers came in to sit at the bar a little after 1 p.m. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

Jessica Perez, left, and Wesley Walker sit down at the bar at Coosh's Bayou Rouge in CollegeTown Tuesday, March 17, 2020. The pair were the restaurant's first sit-down customers of the day a little after 1 p.m. Tori Lynn Schneider/Tallahassee Democrat

The number of Florida deaths now stands at 13. As private laboratories join the list to run tests on swab samples, more than 1,100 people are being monitored across the state.

There are still over 900 tests pending results, with the number of confirmed cases expected to increase.

However, that doesn’t include the number of tests being sent to those commercial labs, DeSantis said during a Sunday morning press conference outside Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium, now the host of a drive-through testing site.

“We don’t have visibility on what is being sent to the labs,” he said. “We get the reports on who tests positive … and who tests negative. There’s probably many more tests that have been outstanding.”

But he emphasized that, so far, the rate of positive cases has declined.

Gov. Ron DeSantis holds a press conference at the Department of Health to inform the public that coronavirus test kits have arrived to Florida, Friday, March 13, 2020. (Photo: Alicia Devine/Tallahassee Democrat)

“The percentage of people who test positive have declined. Even under criteria of where you have to be symptomatic, the vast, vast majority of people are testing negative for this,” he said. “So, I just want to put people at ease. This is an issue we’ve got to deal with; it’s serious. But it’s something that still, at this point, the vast, vast majority of people are testing negative for.”

He continued to remind that close contact is what puts people at risk, especially older adults and those with weakened immune systems. He added along with travel, many cases stem from close contact between people within the same households.

Following up on his Saturday remarks about looking into using vacant facilities to isolate patients, DeSantis said the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) has identified six vacant medical facilities to use for potential response to COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus.

“We hope it doesn’t come to that. We do have capacity — but we’ve got to do our part to stop the spread of the virus so we don’t end up overwhelming the healthcare system,” he said.

Across the state, there are 18,131 available hospital beds, DeSantis said, along with 1,700 ICU beds. About a third of hospitals have 50% or more capacity to care for COVID-19 patients, he said.

Security staff at Good Samaritan Hospital in Suffern assist a patient through the process at their drive-through coronavirus testing facility on Tuesday, March 17, 2020. (Photo: John Meore/The Journal News)

Over the next week, Florida is expected to receive 2 million N-95 masks, said Jared Moskowitz, director of Florida’s Division of Emergency Management. Those will be sent to healthcare workers, the Department of Children and Families and nursing homes.

Broward and Miami Dade Counties have been inundated with most of Florida’s COVID-19 patients as they grapple with more than 400 cases collectively. Officials are constructing field hospitals in those counties, each to accommodate up to 250 people, Moskowitz said.

“That really is a segue between a hospital and then potentially having to set up an additional permanent facility,” he said.

At a press conference Saturday, Gov. Ron DeSantis had said he’s looking to isolate COVID-19 patients inside hotels, convention centers and vacant medical facilities to prevent them from infecting others.

Over the past week the governor has issued several executive orders — from prohibiting indoor dining and non-urgent medical procedures to temporarily shuttering bars, playhouses and movie theaters to enforce federal social distancing safety measures.

The governor, however, has yet to bring up the possibility of a statewide "stay-at-home" order as recently enacted in California, New Jersey, Illinois and other higher-population states.

In a Sunday evening conference call of lawmakers and DeSantis administration officials, a number of Democrats grilled department heads, relaying constituents’ concerns and questions – from how to protect and isolate the homeless to concerns about lagging test results.

When the call was about to end, some demanded more time, and the officials obliged.

One issue of contention – whether the state will issue a shut-down or shelter-in-place order – was brought up a few times. Emergency Management Director Jared Moskowitz said that decision would be up to the governor: "At this moment, I do not have anything to announce or anything on the horizons in that respect.”

And AHCA Secretary Mary Mayhew told lawmakers she has been instructing managed care plans to guard against spread of infection by authorizing hospitalizations of symptomatic or vulnerable patients and preventing hasty discharges.

“This is a cultural shift ... we have to make sure that the right decision making… is occurring and is not being overly driven by what was the previous framework related to reimbursement,” she said. She added she’s been in touch with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to ensure policies aren’t overriding what’s in the “best interest” of the elderly.